Trade 1: Najera, Kleiza and a pick for Artest -

I am really torn on trading for Artest.  Maybe I can talk myself into one side or the other as I craft my comment.

Anti Trade - On one hand I would be very hesitant to deal Kleiza for Artest.  Kleiza is the Nuggets best runner, he is a good chemistry guy and he is improving every game.  

Pro Trade - On the other hand, it is clear that the Nuggets are not a championship caliber team right now.  In my mind this season was their best shot.  With that in mind, Kleiza is a nice player, but is not a high ceiling player.  Is Kleiza too much to give up to reestablish the Nuggets as a potential championship team?

Anti Trade - Another issue is I have a difficult time seeing how the Nuggets would match up defensively.  Melo or Artest would have to guard the opposing shooting guard.  Artest is no longer the lock down defender he once was, but I attribute that more to a lack of desire than a loss of skill.  

Pro Trade - Artest does seem to behave himself for a short time when he is sent to a new team.  The chance to play for a "championship contender" might get him to fall back in line and play smart and focused basketball.

Verdict - I have talked myself into trading Najera and Kleiza for Artest as long as there is no first round pick involved.  I am OK with a second or two seconds, but not a first.  We are doing the Kings somewhat of a favor by taking Artest off their hands.  Anyway, the reason I do this deal is that I want the Nuggets to win a championship and they have a better shot at going for it this year with Artest than waiting to see how good Kleiza can be in a year or two as Camby and AI grow older.

In my mind the ideal trade would be Najera and J.R. Smith for Artest with a second rounder or two thrown in.  Even though Kleiza has less potential than Smith, he is more important to the Nuggets this year than J.R. is and this trade is about this year.

Trade 2:  Nene for Artest -

As far as the Nene for Artest deal, if the Nuggets can get the Kings to take Nene, then we need to start looking at uisng that in a deal to get Kidd.  The biggest issue keeping the Nuggets out of the Kidd sweepstakes was that they would not be able to clear enough salary.  I pointed out of Nene or Kenyon could be included in a deal they could make it work.  Kidd is a much better fit for what they need than Artest is.

Also, with the uncertainty of Kenyon staying healthy the Nuggets will most likely need Nene in the future and to be honest, I am not even sure I would trade Nene as part of a deal for Kidd.  I think Anthony Carter is Jason Kidd lite.  He is a better shooter and defender and he is very adept at passing up the floor to trigger a fast break.

As far as the financial issue with Kronke, I believe he would green light the Artest deal because the reason he is shelling out the million of dollras in luxury tax this season is because he thought this team could win a title.  Right now as constituted it cannot.  I think he would write the check to bring that chance back into reality.

I'm also a little hesitant to trade away LK43 and Najera, BUT, what is this team's achilles heel?? (besides injuries...), DEFENSE, Artest is in my opinion still one of the top 5 on-ball defenders in the association (just ask Melo), and our best chance to get out of this Wild Wild West might be with Artest in a Nuggs uniform.

Why not add a defensive minded player to the team already leading the league in steals, blocks, and forced turnovers per game??
It can only help....

I left out any comments I had on Najera in an attempt to be as brief as possible, but he deserves better.  Sorry Eddie.

As I have pointed out before Najera is the best cutter the Nuggets have and his absence would be felt when their half court offense is bogging down.  

He also provides that scrappy underdog mentality to the Nuggets.  The only guys who will get on the floor for a loose ball are Kenyon and Najera.  

The Nuggets would miss his grit and effort. As tom pointed out he has great plus minus numbers.  According to 82games.com the Nuggets are plus 143 when he is on the floor and they are minus 45 when he is off for a sterling combined +/- of +188.

Eddie would be considerd cap filler in this deal, but he is a good player who would be sorely missed.  

Two other results of this trade would be with Artest on the floor the Nuggets would be even more of a isolation team and it would give Karl another excuse to throw into the mix whenever they lose a game.  I can hear it now, "What do you expect?  We had a major trade go down in the middle of the season.  We did not have training camp to get to know each other."